


Blue Light

by Zokath



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, Hange's a teacher, Mental Health Issues, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 20:54:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29016942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zokath/pseuds/Zokath
Relationships: Levi/Hange Zoë, Nanaba/Mike Zacharias, Pieck Finger/Porco Galliard
Comments: 8
Kudos: 67





	1. Chapter 1

The sound of dress shoes clicking against cheap linoleum floors echoed through the now vacant hallways of the school, they were quickly paced, almost as if the owner of said shoes was running on borrowed time. If your eyes followed up the length of the dress pants you'd see that the buttoned up yellow shirt was haphazardly tucked into the figures slacks. Going further up you could see the long neck that attached to the person's head, atop their head was a mess of brown hair that was collected into some sort of updo, a pair of glasses had been pushed up into the nest of hair as their eyes squinted at a stack of papers they held in their slender finger tips.

It was official, Hange Zoe had stayed at work for too damn long. Yet, this hadn't been the first time, nor would it ever be the last. She worked at the high school in Shiganshina, but she never really considered what she did "work." She ran a research program through the college that assisted the high schoolers in taking up upper level research. It was something she was extremely fond of, and loved more than almost anything. Everyday she overworked herself, finding ways to help these kids that she adored more than anything in the world expand their horizons, find some kind of topic they were passionate about. It seemed her aid had been helping up to this point, but she could only read so fast, hence such late hours.

As the woman walked down the hallways towards her designated room, she heard the familiar deep voice echo down the hallway. Her dark eyes glanced up for a moment as she attempted to make out the blurry figure walking towards her. Her hand quickly moved towards her hair where her glasses sat perched before slipping them back on the bridge of her nose. Of course the only other person that would be working this late was Smith. She gave the man a quick wave before tucking the stack of papers under her arm and walked towards him. The blonde had his coat pulled over his shoulders and his bag in hand. It was time for him to head home apparently. Of course, it was a Friday evening after all. Who on earth wouldn't want to go home after a long week of policing stinky ass teenagers who couldn't apply deodorant correctly?

"Hange," he said with a gentle smile. The man seemed to take in her disheveled appearance, which wasn't uncommon, but quickly looked past that aspect and pointed towards the papers in her arms. "You can't stay here and read all night." Hange let out a laugh that teetered on the edge of a snort before shrugging. He was right to a degree. She  _ shouldn't _ stay here and read her students paper's all night, but that didn't mean she couldn't. 

"Of course I can. I enjoy reading." 

Erwin opened his mouth to protest but no sound came out. All he could do in that moment was shake his head and let out a hefty sigh through his nose before smiling at the brunette standing in front of him. She was a peace of work alright. But, he refused to let her sit in her room into random hours of the night reading her students work. If anything he'd rather her do it in the comfort of her own home. 

"Hange, go get your bag. I'm forcing you to go home at a decent hour tonight." 

The brunette stood there as her jaw went slack. Her eyes looked out a nearby window and saw that the sun had already begun to set behind a sky full of pink and orange clouds. Her dark orbs shifted back to Erwin's bright blue eyes almost as if she was ready to fight him on the issue, but the look of determination on his face proved her theory that any effort she made would be fruitless. Without a word she gave the man a single nod before shoving the armful of paper into his free hand. 

"Hold these while I get my coat then." 

The woman swiftly moved into her classroom, giving the entire place a quick glance. It was a bit disheveled, but in all honesty that was a Monday morning problem. Her leg's moved her towards a large oak desk where she kept her satchel as well as her coat. She quickly pulled the garment over her shoulders and swung the strap of her satchel over her shoulder before she began the short journey to the door. One of her fingers extended to flick the light switch off, her eyes watching as darkness washed over the room. With a satisfied smile the woman closed the door and jiggled the door handle to ensure it was locked before turning to Erwin, who was still holding the paper's she needed to revise. She held out her hand and gave him a "give me" motion, to which the blonde obliged and handed over the stack. 

"You know Hange, sometimes I wonder if you're ever over worked with the program here." 

Hange shoved the paper's into her satchel as she peered up at Erwin over the rim of her glasses, one of her brow's raised in a confused manner. She wasn't over worked. In fact she didn't think there was  _ enough _ work. This was her calling in life after all, so why wouldn't she push herself to offer the kids that looked up to her so much something more than just a mere passing grade on a paper? Hange grinned for a moment as she straightened her posture and shook her head. 

"It's not too much work," she promised him as they both began walking towards the front entrance of the school. "My work here rarely interferes with any research at the University. Besides, that's what the interns are for, to take care of the things I don't have time to address." 

Once they approached the large pair of double doors at the front of the school, Erwin held them open with one arm as Hange walked out. The cold evening air hit her with a blast, the wind blowing a few chunks of her hair away from her face. She hadn't expected it to be this cold so early in the evening, but she shoved her hands into the pockets of her coat anyways and let out a short breath. Erwin joined her side and began to walk with her. Hange had a car, but she simply chose not to drive. Taking the bus meant she could get where she needed to be as well as the chance to get any type of work done. Erwin knew she didn't drive anywhere, and today he had walked to work as well. It was warmer this morning, but now the chilling air of the night was enough to leave you with a cold spot in the middle of your chest. 

The pair walked in a comfortable silence for a few moments, the sounds of city traffic and the wind filling the void before Erwin glanced over towards his coworker. She was a curious woman, someone who was just devoted to work as he was. It was admirable what she did, but deep down he knew she struggled from time to time. The bags under her eyes grew darker with every passing day. His eyes moved from her figure to the street ahead of them. Knowing Hange she would probably go home and stay up for hours on end, not getting enough sleep to function properly through the weekend. He saw the familiar glow of his favourite coffee shop uphead, and with that sight he let a small grin cross his lips before looking down to Hange. 

“Let me buy you a cup of coffee. I know you’re not going to get any type of sleep tonight.” 

“Erwin, it’s fine-” 

“Hange. For the love of god just accept a cup of coffee?” 

_______________________________________________________________________

  
  


Levi had been at work all day, albeit it was slower than usual now that most people were heading home, but he was still tired. Currently he was wiping down the counter while his employee Petra was wiping down the shelves inside the pastry case. It was almost time to close which meant he would get a good thirty minutes to himself to clean everything before heading home. 

Then the damn bell on the door rang. 

Levi’s eyes moved towards the door and saw a face he knew all too well. Of course Erwin would come in right before closing and make them dirty up more equipment. Levi let a small sigh escape his lips before standing up straight, giving the blonde a look of absolute indifference. 

“Good evening, Levi.” 

“Erwin.” 

The chuckle that echoed through the empty shop made Levi cringe inwardly. He was just about to ask Erwin what the hell he wanted to order until he saw the woman standing behind him. 

Levi took in her appearance for a moment and fought saying anything directly towards her. She looked like a hot fucking mess. Her hair looked like it had gone about four days without being brushed. Both her shirt and pants were wrinkled beyond saving. She just  _ looked _ messy, and that wasn’t something Levi liked. He caught himself staring at her for far too long and immediately changed the direction of his gaze to the register. 

“What do you two want then?” 

Erwin walked up to the counter with Hange hot on his heels. He glanced over the menu for a moment before giving Levi a warm smile.    
  


“Just the usual. Black coffee with cream and sugar.” 

Erwin’s eyes moved to Hange, who’s amber orbs were scanning the menu at a rapid speed. She hummed for a second before looking at Levi. 

“Is there any way to just get a cup full of espresso?” 

Levi looked to Erwin for a moment and opened his mouth to say something rude before catching himself and shaking his head. 

“I don't think I can legally sell that much caffeine to one person.” 

Hange raised a brow at his statement. To her it didn't seem like that big of a deal. It would keep her going for a good five or six hours once she got home. Judging by the look on this guys face she wouldn't get her request without a fight, but was she really willing to fight over this issue? Just as she began to give her rebuttal;e Erwin held up his hand and gave Hange a side glance. 

“Just get a latte with extra shots in it.” 

Hange pursed her lips at the request before finally admitting defeat. 

“Alright. I'll take a latte with five extra shots.” 

Levi couldn’t help but scowl at the request but rung up the order anyways. Change walked towards one of the nearby couches and plopped down with her satchel, taking out a few of the papers she had crammed inside earlier and began to read over them. Levi handed the cup marked “5 shots” to Petra, trusting her to make the drink correctly as he prepared Erwin’s on the other side of the counter. Erwin was cramming his change back into his wallet before he walked towards the area of the bar where Levi was standing. 

“Who’s the weirdo you dragged in here with you?” 

Erwin raised his large eyebrows at Levi’s blatant insult and craned his neck to look at the woman sitting on the couch. 

“You mean Hange?” 

Levi’s eyes kept their usual uncaring tone about them before he spoke again in a much lower voice. “The fuck kind of name is Hange?” His hand extended to give Erwin his coffee cup. The blonde took a sip and nodded in approval, the sweetened liquid leaving a warm feeling in the pit of his stomach. 

“Her first name’s Zoë, but all of her students call her Hange. A lot of the staff do too.” 

Levi had continued his task of wiping down the counter before he stopped for a moment. 

“She’s a teacher?” 

Erwin sucked in a breath and shrugged a bit. She  _ was _ a teacher, just not the conventional type. Hange was different. She had classes at the highschool but she was also a professor at the University. She ran massive research projects with her students. But it ran deeper than that, she had a unique way of teaching, she made it fun for the kids. It was something a lot of the other teachers struggled with at the highschool. 

“She teaches.” 

Those words described her well. She wasn’t just a teacher, she was some kids key to a greater future. 

Levi hummed in understanding, although he didn’t completely understand what the woman’s place at Erwin’s school was. From down the counter. Petra rang a bell and placed the cup on the counter and gave Erwin a kind smile before going back to her tasks. Levi looked to Hange, waiting for the woman to look up from her work and actually pay attention to her surroundings. 

“Hey, idiot.” 

It took a few seconds but Hange finally looked up from what she was doing, her expression mimicking a deer caught in the headlights as her dark eyes widened in shock at the use of his crass tone. 

“Are you talking to me?” she asked as she tilted her head to the side a bit. 

Levi looked around the shop for a moment and shook his head slowly. 

“No, I’m talking to the damn ghost at the table over there. Yes, I’m talking to you dumbass.” He tilted his head down as he continued wiping down a particularly sticky spot with his wet rag. His head jutted to the side, motioning towards the cup of coffee a few feet away. “Your drink is ready. Get it so we can close and I can go home.” 

Hange’s eyes darted to the cup that sat on the edge of the bar before putting her papers down on a nearby coffee table. She practically  _ jumped _ towards the cup and took it in her hands with so much excitement it was kinda scary. Levi and Erwin watched her take the first sip, both of them taking note at how her face twisted into one of pure disgust before melting into happiness and what looked like pleasure. Levi knew that all the espresso made that latte taste like motor oil, but she seemed to be enjoying the torture her taste buds must have been receiving?

“That’s fucking gross.” he mumbled under his breath after a moment, the corner of his mouth twitching in disgust as he watched the woman take another mouthful of the bitter liquid and swallow it without a second thought. 

Once she had swallowed everything, Hange looked to Levi with a confused look. His comment was obviously turning the gears in her mind, but he wasn’t exactly sure why. 

“Why do you own a coffee shop if you find drinks like this disgusting?” 

Erwin had to stifle his laughter at the burnette’s curiosity. She did have a point, but the scowl that was spread across Levi’s face told the blonde it was best to get the woman out of there as quickly as possible. 

“Well Hange, he prefers tea over coffee at any given moment. But I think he may have been referring to the way you downed it like a shot?” 

Hange looked at both men standing before her, then at the cup in her hand. 

“I just like strong coffee?” 

Levi straightened his posture a bit before simply walking away from the counter without another word. He was done with this conversation. 

“Can both of you get out?” he called as he walked towards the door that led to his back office. Erwin nodded and picked up Hange’s satchel from the couch. The blonde put a hand on the woman’s shoulder and ushered her back into the cold evening air, this time both of them had a warm beverage to make their respective walks home a little easier. 

“I am glad you enjoy the coffee.” Erwin chimed as the two walked down the sidewalk. “I went to school with Levi when we were teenagers. He’s a bit of an asshole but once you get to know him he’s not so bad. Even a little funny if you understand his humor.” Hange hummed in response to Erwin’s explanation as she took another sip of her coffee, savoring both the temperature and flavor. 

The two walked for a bit until they reached the part of the commute where they had to part ways. Hange gave Erwin a quick hug goodbye before continuing her journey alone. It was another ten or so minutes before she reached her town house. The large windows welcomed her with open arms, the sight of her plants sitting on the inner windowsill making her lips tug up in a smile. The woman dug her keys out of her pockets quickly, the cold metal on her warm fingertips making her hiss a bit as she shoved it into the keyhole and turned the lock quickly. Walking into the mudroom filled her with comfort. She kicked off her shoes and dropped her jacket on the floor in virtually the same spot before walking towards her couch.

Her living room was a bit of a disaster. A laptop sat on the coffee table, paper’s being strewn all over the place. Half the couch was covered in various binders and books that any normal person would deem as trash, but to her they were special. The brunette collapsed onto the cushions, relishing in the familiar dents that had been worn into the cushions after years of lounging about and napping on them. She allowed her eyes to close for a moment, the feeling of her brain being completely empty enjoyable for those few moments. Then, her eyelids peeled back and her dark eyes were visible to the world again. She sat up with a sigh, one hand reaching for the brown leather bag she had brought with her to the couch and the other one reaching for the motor fuel she called coffee that sat on the table in front of her. 

She took a handful of the papers and leaned back. The first paper she took out had the name “Eren Jaeger” written across the top in the wrong format. Letting out a loud groan the brunette rubbed her eyes a bit too aggressively and sat up a bit more. 

“Let’s get to work then.” 

_______________________________________________________________

  
  


It had been a good thirty minutes since Levi had turned the open sign to “off.” Now he was waiting for Petra to clock out so he could finish the inventory and go home. He was working on a report when he heard a knock at his office door. 

“Come in.” 

The door opened slowly and revealed the ginger. Her purse was hooked over her arm and she was bundled up in hopes of guarding herself from the cold weather outside. Levi raised one of his thin brows at the woman, wondering why the hell she was still standing there. 

His eyes moved to whatever she was holding in her hand. 

“I think that woman left her papers here.” 

Levi looked at Petra for a moment before shrugging, his gaze returning to his computer screen. “Throw them out.” 

He could feel the disapproving look that she was casting his direction, and it honestly made him squirm in his seat, “Levi,” she reprimanded with a stern tone, “Just looking at them I can tell they’re important. Some of it’s highschool assignments but some of these look like college thesis’? We can’t just throw away someone's hard work like that.” 

Levi sat there for a moment, arms crossing over his chest. It seemed he was in a standoff with the woman standing in front of him, and he didn't think she would back down anytime soon. To save himself the hassle, Levi took the paper’s from her grasp and glanced over them. He noticed a few names that stood out to him, Armin Artlert was one of the main ones. Then he saw Mikasa’s name. Furrowing his brows Levi finally agreed to salvage the papers rather than toss them in the trash can. 

“Alright. I’ll text Erwin and figure out a way to get the paper’s to her.” His cool eyes met Petra’s for a moment before tossing them down on his desk. “You can leave now. Make sure you’re here on time tomorrow. You and Oulou are opening the shop.” 

Petra nodded quickly and gave him a quick smile before giving him a soft “goodbye.” Then, Levi was left alone with his thoughts. He sat at his desk in silence for a moment before he reached for his phone. Scrolling through his contacts, he quickly found Erwin’s number. He typed out a quick message before pressing send. 

_ Levi: That wreck of a woman left some shit on the coffee table. You need to come get them from the shop tomorrow morning and take it to her.  _

Once the message had gone through Levi tossed his phone down onto his desk, the device making a loud  _ thud _ as it made impact with the stacks of paper he had made a mental note to organize the next day. He began picking up his coat and pulling it over his shoulders, his hands coming up to fix the collar of his button up shirt. He heard the chime from his phone, notifying him that Erwin had more than likely responded. Levi grabbed his phone and crammed it into his pocket. Closing the door to his office, Levi turned off all the lights inside the store then turned his attention to the glowing sign that hung on the window. He turned the on sign to “off” then swiftly moved towards the door. He kicked it open gently with the toe of his boot before closing behind him. Once he locked the deadbolt on the shop door he turned and began walking down the street towards his apartment. 

As he walked home, Levi pulled his phone out of his pocket, seeing the notification on his screen, His thumb slid across his screen, unlocking it quickly and letting his eyes scan over the message and taking in the words. 

_ Erwin: I have a staff meeting tomorrow morning with the Superintendent, so I won’t be able to come and get her paperwork for her.  _

Levi stared at the message for a second and silently cursed under his breath. 

“You got to be fucking kidding me..” he mumbled under her breath as he glanced up, his eyes scanning the street before crossing. He walked up towards his apartment building, his hand jutting out of his jacket pocket and wrapping around the cold metal as he yanked on his door. Levi headed towards the elevator and pressed the button, silently waiting for the doors to open before stepping in. He was relieved he didn't have to stand in the trademark awkward elevator ride with one of his neighbors he never bothered to get close with. His phone chimed again as he pressed the “three” button and the shaft lurked upwards. He glared down at the phone screen again and saw yet another text from Erwin. His fingers tapped on the screen before he read the message under his breath. 

_ Erwin: Here’s Hange’s number. Text her and tell her to just come get it herself. She’s probably still awake right now.  _

Levi clicked his tongue in his mouth for a moment and shook his head. He didn’t want to interact with that woman at all, much less have her nasty ass back in the store. 

The elevator lurked to a halt and the sliding sound of the door made his eyes glance up. Levi swiftly walked out and down the hall. He was thankful his home was at the end of the corridor, as far away from the elevator door as he could get. He didn’t have to hear anyone stumble in drunk in the middle of the night screaming and shit. 

He unlocked his door and walked in, the smell of clean linens and lavender wafted through the air. His home made him feel safe and alone. 

That was the thing about Levi. He enjoyed being alone, but not for prolonged amounts of time. When he went to work he enjoyed being around his coworkers to a degree because they knew what pissed him off or annoyed him. At home it was just him, and the cat. But the cat was old and just as grumpy as him. 

Speaking of the cat, Levi glanced over at the grey couch and saw the large feline curled up on the couch cushion. The raven haired man nodded and towards the creature and walked towards the kitchen. His finger flicked the light switch into the on position. Walking towards the pantry he kept the cat food in, he got a single scoop and promptly dumped it into the cat’s food bowl, the tiny “clinking” of food pellets hitting the ceramic surface. 

The jingling of a cat collar followed immediately before the cat made itself known just under Levi’s feet. 

“You’re a little shit.” he mumbled as he shrugged the jacket off, tossing it onto the back of a chair before making his way towards the bathroom. He wanted to shower and feel clean and new. 

______________________________________________________________________

Hange hadn’t moved in  _ hours _ and now she had the worst pain in her back. She was hunched over her coffee table, leaving red mark after red mark on the papers spread in front of her. She felt so drained, even with the caffeine in her system she was running on fumes. Looking at the clock on her wall she noticed the time: 3:23 AM. With a soft sigh she nodded in defeat, knowing she had to head to bed at some point. The week worth of sleepless nights was finally catching up with her. In a matter of minutes she would pass out for the next few hours. As she began cramming the paper’s back into her bag she heard her phone chime from somewhere in her area. 

Her eyes bounced around as she looked for the device until she found it stuck between her couch cushions. As she squinted at the bright screen she saw a text from an unknown number. She raised a brow, quickly typing in her password so she could discover who the hell was texting her. 

_ Unknown: You left your damn papers in the shop.  _

Hange sat there for a few moments, running the events of the day through her head in an attempt to put just who the fuck this was together. 

_ Unknown: This is Levi, Just come get the paper’s before we open in the morning. _

Hange’s mouth formed a soft “O” shape as she nodded in understanding. This was the short coffee shop guy that yelled at her. The brunette's mind raced back to the moment her and Erwin had left the shop. 

The blonde had pushed her out the door before she got the chance to pack up any of the things she had been working on. 

_ Hange: Alright, I’ll come by sometime tomorrow morning. Thank you.”  _

As she tossed her phone onto the table and settled into the worn out couch cushions, one thought came into her mind. Who the fuck else was up at this time? Hange didn’t have the most regular sleep schedule, but the rest of the world should’ve been sleeping soundly at this time of night. The thought kept replaying in her mind as she finally drifted off into sleep, the darkness consuming her. 

_______________________________________________________________________

Levi and the rest of the opening staff had been there for at least an hour and the woman named Hange had yet to show up. He was a bit irritated, but he was fighting off that feeling by organizing the pastry cabinet. Petra was sitting behind the register, and Oluo was wiping down a table that a couple had just left. 

“I don’t think that the cookies can get any straighter than that, Levi.” 

The raven’s eyes snapped up to Petra, giving her a sharp glare before standing up and wiping his hands on his apron. 

“If they don’t look good then people won’t buy them.” 

Petra rolled her large eyes, as she turned her attention towards the sound of the doorbell chiming, signaling that yet another patron had walked in. 

“Oh!” Petra chimed, her overly sweet smile spreading across her face. “It’s you!” 

Levi had been washing his hands at the counter when he turned her head and saw the person he was dreading seeing that day. 

Hange was wearing a pair of jeans that looked like they were straight out of 1984. The baggy ass, dark green sweater hung off her torso, and just looking down at the sneakers she was wearing made him want to follow her around with a damn mop and broom. His lip twitched up in annoyment for a second before grabbing a nearby towel and wiping his hands off. 

“You’re fucking late, four eyes.” His voice carried a bit more than usual, but they were the only one’s present at the moment so he didn't particularly care. 

She gave him a tired smile and shrugged for a moment. “Sorry about that, I woke up later than I anticipated.” 

Hange moved towards the register and gave Petra a gentle grin before digging some crumbled bills out of her pocket. “Can you make me the same thing you made me yesterday?” Petra gave her a simple nod and took the cash, quickly handing back the change before getting to work on the drink. 

Hange looked to Levi who was standing behind the counter, looking off at the floor she had just dirtied with her old shoes. 

“My papers?” she asked with a raised brow as she took the strap of her satchel and stretched it over her head before tossing it on a nearby table. Levi watched as she seemingly made herself at home and let his brows sink further down on his face. 

“I’ll be right back with them.” he whispered under his breath before walking back towards his office. 

As Hange waited, she took in the atmosphere of the coffee shop. It was quiet and clean, almost cozy in a way. Despite everything smelling of coffee grounds and some mystery cleaning solution, she honestly enjoyed the way it felt in the smaller space. 

Levi came out a few moments later, hands gripping a large chunk of papers. He walked around the edge of the bar and stood directly in front of Hange, arm reached out for her to take the work. The brunette nodded and gave him a “thank you.” 

Looking at the woman closer, Levi noticed the bags under her eyes. They were worse than they had been the day before. He’d be lying if he said he wasn't curious about what she had been doing so late at night, but judging by the way her face lit up when her students' work was back in her hands he could piece together her motives pretty easily. 

Petra rang the bell from across the counter top and motioned towards Hange who gave her a soft nod. The brunette's eyes had fallen back to Levi. She tilted her head to the side a bit before she moved past him to take her drink into her hands. “So, Levi…” she hummed out with a chuckle as she took a sip from the cup and squinted her eyes in an attempt not to show she had just given her tongue a second degree burn. “Would it be okay if I occupied one of your tables for the day? I have to grade those damn papers you graciously handed off to me.” 

Levi stood there with his arms crossed over his chest. She didn’t need to ask him for permission. Sure she looked like she smelled like three weeks worth of rotten onions. 

“Damned if I care what you’re doing. You are a paying customer after all.” 

Hange nodded and sat down at one of the tables, muttering a “nice” under her breath as she dug out all her supplies from the worn out satchel and plopped it all down on top of the table’s surface. She whipped out a laptop, a handful of colorful pens, and a pair of headphones. In a matter of minutes she was writing all over the margins of the papers. 

As the day went by Levi kept one eye on Hange. It was shocking that she wasn’t being annoying, but she was so engrossed in her work that she didn’t seem to be very social. She would change the song that was blaring in her headphones every few minutes, change pens, typing unbelievably fast on her computer. Then the cycle would restart itself. It was amazing in all honesty. 

She sat there all day, and it wasn't until Levi walked up behind Hange and nudged her with the back of his hand that she noticed it was already dark outside. 

“You’ve been sitting here for at least 8 hours. Go the fuck home.” 

Hange looked at the time on her phone, her brown eyes widening slightly before she nodded. “Yeah, I feel like I should shower.” 

Levi felt his stomach churn at her words before simply walking away from the conversation. Hange packed up her things and slung her bag over her shoulder before walking out of the shop. 

“Thank you Levi!” she called as she exited the shop. Levi watched her leave and refused to respond to her words. Petra was finishing cleaning some of the cups as she watched Hange through one of the windows. “She’s nice isn’t she Levi?” 

Levi looked down at the red head and raised a brow as he ran a hand through his hair. “She looks like she doesn't shower for days at a time.” 

Petra opened her mouth to object but let out a soft breath of defeat. “No one will ever meet your standards, Levi.” 

He shrugged and continued to help her finish cleaning. Silence engulfed them for a few moments, alas it was a comfortable silence. An hour or so went by before Petra clocked out and waved goodbye to Levi. 

“Make sure to get some rest tomorrow!” she said cheerfully as she left the shop then meeting with Oluo on the street corner. 

Once he had finished organizing the paperwork in his office. Once he was done he gladly grabbed all his belongings and started walking home. As he walked towards his apartment, he checked any notifications on his phone. 

_ Hange: Thank you for giving me those papers today! You probably saved my students' semester averages lol. I’ll be back in for more coffee.  _

Levi stared at the message for a second before beginning to type back. It took him just a few minutes to decide what he wanted to say before pressing the send button and continuing his route home. 

_ Levi: Go take a fucking shower. _

________________________________________________________________________


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Are you two sneaking around like teenagers or some shit?” he asked as he got closer. 
> 
> Erwin turned to look at Levi before shrugging. “I was trying not to smoke too close to the door to avoid your wrath. Guess I’ll have to go further down the block to accomplish that.” 
> 
> Erwin was laughing but Levi felt that the atmosphere from their previous conversation was still hanging in the air. 
> 
> “What’s up with this secret ass conversation then?”

In all honesty Levi wasn’t a mean person, or at least he didn’t intend to be. That was what a lot of people got wrong about him. Levi Ackerman was genuinely just a shy person with a weird ass sense of humor. The few people in his life had come to that realization years ago. Petra figured it out, so did Oluo, Eld, and Gunther. They knew when he was simply trying to talk in a way that was comfortable to him or when he was genuinely trying to piss someone off. Erwin had figured it out too, but he enjoyed pushing Levi’s buttons a hell of a lot more, perhaps it had something to do with the fact that Eerwin didn’t depend on Levi’s employment to pay his bills. 

Speaking of the giant, Levi hadn’t seen him since the day he had brought Hange in the shop and ruined the closing routine they had been in the middle of. He had seen Hange a few times since then, but she hadn’t been the most social either. It was weird considering how she acted when they had first met. She was loud and weird, but when she came in and sat at a table she was a totally different being. 

Levi had lost track of his thoughts until his phone chimed, snapping him back into his unfortunate reality. His eyes glanced down at the notification, reading the name slowly before sighing. Of course she would come around with her annoying ass friends and make a mess of his shop.

Levi stood from his office chair and walked towards the door. He opened it and revealed himself to his staff members, two of which were on their breaks. 

“The kids are coming in.” he said flatly. 

Petra cheered silently to herself as the other’s shrugged in indifference. 

“I don’t get how you can be so excited for them to come in here and make a mess that _we’ll_ have to clean up after.” 

Petra turned to the familiar, and sometimes irritating voice, of Oulu. She furrowed her brows in an almost reprimanding way before turning her attention back to counting the money in the register. 

“They’re good kids. I’d rather them get in trouble here with us than doing stupid things on the street.” 

Eld and Gunther bacled Petra up on her point, effectively shutting Oulo up for the time being. Levi looked at his employees for a moment and took a deep breath. He cared about them, at least that much was evident. Most of the kids in the circle were good, _most._ They did dumb shit from time to time, but who didn’t? 

“Just let me know when they’re here.” Levi instructed before returning to his cave of an office. 

  
  
  


“When is Professor Hange supposed to meet us?” Eren asked as the trio walked down the sidewalk towards the coffee shop. His eyebrows were furrowed in annoyance, possibly due to the fact that Hange had failed his paper due to lack of credible sources. 

“Ten minutes ago.” Armin replied as he rushed in front of his friends with as much energy as a 16 year old boy could muster. Mikasa was trailing behind the other two, looking as nonchalant as ever. She didn’t even need to be here, she was just killing time before she needed to report to the gym for volleyball practice.

“You know Eren, if you hadn’t procrastinated your report so long you wouldn’t be in this situation.” 

Eren’s green eyes shifted to cast Mikasa a glare before letting out a huff. She wasn’t wrong entirely, he just didn’t like admitting he was wrong. 

Armin reached the door and quickly yanked on the door handle, his bright blue eyes scanning the area before his chest heaved out a breath of relief. She wasn’t there yet, and that meant that technically they were on time. 

Upon the group entering, Petra rushed off to tap her knuckles on the door of Levi’s office. He gave a short “coming” before the door whipped open to reveal the short man. His eyes darted in the direction of the three teenagers, and without a word they all sat down at one of the sitting areas. Levi walked over and crossed his arms over his chest. He glanced over at Armin who was sitting on the couch with the most awkward posture imaginable, while Eren seemed to be talking shit about something to Mikasa while she stared off into the distance. 

“Hey,” he called the three of them, watching three sets of eyes all rush to meet him. When Mikasa had messaged him to let them know they would be having a teacher conference in his coffee shop after school he instantly became curious as to what the hell the three of them had done to warrant such a thing. Eren he could understand, the asshole could get into trouble over anything, but Mikasa and Armin rarely got into any type of trouble, much less school related trouble. 

“The hell did you three do this time?” he asked coldly. 

Armin looked at the other two and noticed how neither of them wanted to admit the real reason they were all congregating inside Levi’s coffee shop. 

“Well,” Armin started with a slight chuckle as he tucked a long piece of blonde hair behind his ear. “Eren sorta got in trouble over a research paper he wrote, so our teacher is meeting us here to show him where he messed up.” 

Levi raised a brow at that statement. Every teacher he had in highschool just handed the paper back and told you to either fix it or try better next time. There was no deliberating or teaming up to remedy the mistakes. The raven turned his attention to Mikasa who sat on the other side of Eren. 

“Don’t you have practice?” he asked, the expression on his face showing no other emotion other than indifference. Mikasa shrugged and leaned into the back of the couch. 

“Yeah, in an hour or so.” 

“Does mom know you’re here?” he asked as he turned to walk behind the counter to help Petra clean one of the espresso machines. Mikasa nodded a “yes” and turned her attention to somewhere else in the store. 

Levi stopped his interrogation of the trio after that and went about his business for the time being. Him and Gunter were in the middle of carrying a bag full of coffee beans in from the backroom when the sound of the door slamming open made his head snap up in shock. Standing there in all her stinky ass glory was Hange, looking as worn down as ever. 

Today she had one brown turtle neck that matched her eyes and a pair of weird jeans that were baggy but fitted at the same time. But, the shoes on her feet were still those ugly sneakers that needed to be hand scrubbed with a toothbrush. His upper lip twitched up for a moment before he went back to the task of helping his employee. Hange was a problem for later. 

Meanwhile, the brunette was scanning the room with her large eyes until an excited gasp left her lips. There they were. She rushed over to the couch and haphazardly pulled a chair up to the other side of the coffee table before slamming her satchel down on the hard wooden surface. She looked at all three of them for a moment before giving them a smile. 

“Why does everyone look like they’re going to the principal's office?” she asked with a laugh as she began pulling her supplies from her bag and spreading them out in front of them. Eren stared at the woman sitting directly across from him with wide eyes before speaking. 

“So, I’m not in trouble?” he asked in a hushed tone. Hange looked at all their expressions and finally noticed that they all looked a bit worried, and maybe constipated? 

“No…?” she drew out with a confused laugh. “Why would any of you guys be in trouble with me?” 

Armin took the opportunity to interject and explain their reasoning. He babbled on about Eren’s terrible research paper, and how they all thought he was going to be in a massive amount of trouble for not doing any of it correctly. The entire made up scenario made Hange’s head spin for a moment before she held up a hand to stop the talking. 

“Look, I can’t be mad at Eren for writing a shitty research paper when this is the first time he’s attempted. If anything I called this meeting to simply show him what needs to be changed and improved upon.” Hange gave all three of the kids a gentle before she stood from her seat and lifted her arms above her head in a stretching manner. “Give me a second to order some coffee and I’ll help you out, Eren.” 

The brunette made her way to the register when she saw the familiar grin of the barista. Her name tag read “Petra” and her bobbed hair fell at her jaw in the cutest way possible. 

“Hello, Hange!” she said with a tilt of her head before reaching for a cup. “Are you getting the usual thing you always get?” Hange thought for a moment and nodded before digging the cash out of her pants pocket and handing it to the woman. “Where’s the little troll?” Hange asked Petra with a snort. The red head was taken back by her words before she looked towards the back door. “Him and Gunther were in the middle of moving some stock into the back. He should be back soon enough.” 

Hange nodded and went back to her seat, eyeing Eren with a grin. “Now then,” she said happily as she crossed one of her legs over the other, “Let’s get to work then.” 

The first thing Hange went over with Eren was his formatting. It was absolutely terrible. From what she could see he just started ranting in the basic format that microsoft word gave when you first started the program. 

“Why didn’t you follow MLA formatting?” Mikasa asked gently as she looked at Eren’s paper from over his shoulder. Eren stared at her for a moment before turning to Armin with a slack jaw, then to Hange. 

“The hell is MLA formatting?”

Hange tried her best to make some sort of explanation come out, but all she could manage was a half empty stare before pinching the bridge of her nose. “Jesus Christ,” was all she could manage before the woman sunk into her seat a bit more. 

From the back of the shop, Levi could hear the kids talking to someone who he could only assume was their teacher, He quickly wiped his hands on his apron and walked towards the front before stopping dead in his tracks. 

Of fucking course _she_ was the teacher they were having this weird ass meeting with. Who else would it have been? He even saw Mikasa’s name on one of the papers that had been left behind that day. Levi saw Petra push a cup onto the counter with the name “Hange” scribbled across it. The raven haired man let out a sigh and took the coffee into his hands as he walked towards the group. He put the cup down on the table and looked at Mikasa with an icy stare. 

“You didn’t tell me this freak was the teacher you were meeting.” 

Mikasa returned the same stare and shrugged absentmindedly. 

“It’s none of your business, really.” 

He narrowed his eyes slightly and motioned around him. “It’s my shop.” 

Mikasa tilted her head down a bit and scoffed. “She’s my teacher and this is my meeting. I win.” 

Levi opened his mouth to let another snarky remark out but was interrupted by Hange’s loud voice. “How do you know my students? Are they employees here?” She asked curiously. Levi refused to answer her question, and so did Mikasa. Instead the two continued their stare off.

“Levi is Mikasa’s older brother.” Armin informed Hange softly before returning to reviewing his own work. Hange nodded in understanding before Mikasa stood from her spot on the couch. “I have to get going anyway. Annie and I are incharge of warmups this afternoon.” The young woman gave everyone a quick wave goodbye before leaving everyone in relative silence. Armin and Eren were peer reviewing their work at Hange’s suggestion, which left Levi standing awkwardly next to the professor. 

“Ah, you brought me my coffee.” she realized in a happy tone as she picked up the beverage and took a sip before placing the cup back down on the table carefully. Levi watched her carefully, watching how slowly she moved. He noted the tired expression on her face earlier, but now that he wasn't across the room from her it was much more noticeable. In fact, it seemed even worse than it had been the last time they had met. 

“You drink too much caffeine.” He said abruptly. “Probably why you're up at all hours of the damn night.” 

Hange was chewing on her pen cap as she continued grading more papers, which seemed to be the only thing she was capable of these days. “No, Levi.” she said with a grin. “I drink caffeine because I can’t sleep. There’s a considerable difference you know.” 

Levi let out a _Tch_ before walking back towards the counter. “So, you’re a freak who can’t sleep?” he asked, Petra giving him a dirty look from down the bar. 

Hange laughed obnoxiously loud at his jab before lifting her amber eyes from the paper and meeting Levi’s light gaze. “Yeah, I guess so. What’s your excuse then?” 

Levi froze for a second before glaring at her from the corner of his eye. “The fuck are you talking about? I get plenty of sleep.” 

Hange made a face of disbelief before returning to her previous activities. She knew it wasn’t true at all. The first time he had messaged her about leaving those papers in the shop it was nearly three in the damn morning. There was no way he was sleeping anymore than she was. But unlike some people, she had no right to talk about other people's sleeping habits when her own were complete shit. 

“Hange?” 

Eren’s voice interupted her train of thought, pulling her attention back to the two young men sitting across from her. 

“What was wrong with my sources?” 

Hange looked down at the red lettering that covered the poor kids paper and let out a soft sigh before shaking her head. “Well, for starters, you can’t just cite Wikipedia as a source. It’s not seen as reliable even if the information is correct. You need to find information from more trustworthy sources.” She looked at his paper for a few more seconds and had to stifle laughter from reading her own corrections and notes. “Second of all, you didn’t even cite the source correctly.” 

Hange’s bright eyes moved to Armin who was proudly reading over his basically perfect research paper. “Eren,” she stated calmly, “I can’t help but wonder why you didn’t ask Armin for help. It’s obvious he knew what he was doing with his research report.” 

Eren was a hard head, and she knew from her own personal experiences that being a hard head meant you had to learn from the multitude of mistakes. This wasn’t his first mistake, and it wouldn’t be his last. 

“I wanted to do it myself.” he admitted in a tone of voice that made Hange feel a pang of guilt. The brunette let out a deep sigh and nodded gently before looking at Armin’s expression. He was giving Eren an understanding smile before putting his hand on the other boy's shoulder. “Well,” she started, “I’m sure he would’ve been willing to help you if you just asked. Keep that in mind in the future. Okay?” 

The three of them sat there for another hour or so before the sun began to sink behind the horizon. Eren and Amrin thanked Hange for her help before rushing off home for dinner. Then she was left there by herself, alone. For the first time all day she let her mind wander to a place she didn’t enjoy at all. She knew that spent her afternoon here in an attempt to help her students improve their writing, but was she really helping them? Was all of this for nothing? 

Suddenly the door chimed and in walked a familiar face that warmed her heart a bit. 

“Erwin!” she cheered happily. The blonde waved hello to her as Petra prepared his usual coffee behind the counter. The tall man walked over to Hange and sat his briefcase down next to her chair. 

Sometimes Erwin picked up on small details a bit too easily, and the look he had seen on Hange’s face through the shop window as he walked passes made him come to a screeching halt. He sat down next to the woman and elbowed her before she led her head lean on his broad shoulder. 

“I’ve seen that face before and it’s never good. What’s the matter with you?” 

Hange was a decent liar, but lying to Erwin was almost impossible for her to do. The brunette was silent for a moment before shrugging. 

“Do you really think I’m making a difference?” she asked softly. The straight face the blonde man wore on his face said a thousand words. He didn’t know. Hange could only do so much on her own, it was up to her students if they wanted to use the information and tools she gave to them and succeed. 

Levi heard the doorbell ring and seemingly made himself appear from his office. He saw Erwin and Hange and raised a brow for a moment before walking over towards the two. 

“Hey,” he interrupted sharply. “No PDA in this establishment.” 

Erwin whipped his head around and shot Levi a half assed glare before standing. 

“Ah, Levi.” he said with a grin. “Sorry. I was just talking to my lovely co-worker. In fact she agreed to continue this conversation with me outside so you can close up shop and head home. Right, Hange?” 

The brunette’s head snapped up at the words and she nodded quickly before cramming everything into her satchel, this time triple checking to make sure she got everything. 

“Right!” she said happily as she turned to face Levi and the rest of his staff members. Her glasses were half falling off her nose, and the smile she wore was so large that it seemed fake. 

_Mostly because it was, and Levi could see it in the way she clenched her jaw._

Erwin quickly paid Petra in exact change before throwing an extra dollar in the tipo jar that sat on the counter top. “All of you have a goodnight!” Hange said cheerfully as the two exited the shop. 

Levi watched them walk down the sidewalk a ways before stopping a safe distance from the shop’s door. Levi huffed under his breath before heading towards Petra and Gunther to help close shop.

  
  
  
  
  


Levi was the last one to leave the cafe that night. He turned off all the lights and was walking out towards the door. The moment he opened it he smelt the undeniable smell of cigarette smoke. He gagged inwardly at the smell before quickly locking the shop door and turning to head home. That’s when he saw them, Erwin and Hange standing on the same street corner sharing a cigarette. It was gross, both the smoking part and the sharing part. As the shorter man walked closer to the duo he eyed them up and down before coughing a bit too loudly to make his presence known. 

“Are you two sneaking around like teenagers or some shit?” he asked as he got closer. 

Erwin turned to look at Levi before shrugging. “I was trying not to smoke too close to the door to avoid your wrath. Guess I’ll have to go further down the block to accomplish that.” 

Erwin was laughing but Levi felt that the atmosphere from their previous conversation was still hanging in the air. 

“What’s up with this secret ass conversation then?”

“It’s work related stuff,” Erwin assured him. 

“Work related my ass-” 

Levi stopped talking for a second before he noticed Hange. She had a cigarette stuck between two of her fingers as she stared off into absolute nothingness. Her brown eyes seemed dull under the yellow rays of the street lamp, but something about her lack of energy made him think this ran much deeper than “work stuff.” 

“Well then,” Erwin said as he turned back to Hange. “We can continue this conversation at a later date. Take tomorrow off and give some attention to your college kids.” 

Erwin left after that, leaving Hange and Levi on the street together. It was clear that Hange wasn’t 100% in the moment. Levi snapped his fingers in front of the brunette's face, effectively bringing her back into reality with a jump. 

“Sorry,” she said with a laugh before taking one last drag of the cigarette before dropping it on the sidewalk and putting it out with the sole of she shoe. 

“Disgusting,” Levi remarked under his breath as she blew the smoke his way. “The fact that you’re smoking _and_ you both shared that nasty ass thing.” 

Hange shrugged and dug her hands into her pockets before letting out a raspy chuckle. “It’s not like Erwin has been anywhere I need to be worried about.” 

Levir rolled his eyes in annoyance. “Yeah, but you look like you sleep under a park bench.” 

Hange stared at the raven haired man, her wide eyes and lack of smile made him believe for a split second that maybe he finally crossed a line, but the corners of her lips turned up into a smirk. 

“Is that your little troll secret for getting a full night's sleep? Sleep under a park bench?” 

Levi looked at her for a second, the corners of his lips threatening to twitch up into a smile. 

“Are you gonna stand on the corner all night smoking like an idiot or go home?” 

Hange stood there for a second and nodded. “Well,” she breathed out, the warm air leaving her mouth in a puff before she continued, “I suppose heading home wouldn’t be too far fetched. I have shit to do after all.” 

The raven didn’t say anything else before he turned and started walking towards his apartment building. He was maybe ten feet away when he heard the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps behind him. He turned his head back and saw Hange jogging to catch up with him, that sickeningly sweet smile spread across her face once again. He let out a sigh laced with irritation before continuing his route home. 

“You live around here?” she asked once she caught up. Levi gave her a sharp nod in the affirmative as he cupped his hands over his mouth and blew a puff of air onto his palms, effectively warming them up. 

“That’s pretty cool you know. Living so close to your job. I have to walk a good 45 minutes to get to the high school campus. It sucks when the weather is like this.” 

She talked so damn much, even when she was off in her own world it seemed like she just couldn’t find the power within herself to shut up. Alas, Levi let her ramble on about the weather and how it affected her walk to school every morning. But the moment he got to his crosswalk for the building, Levi literally just walked off and left her alone. Hange watched as he walked off towards his own home before she continued onto her own home that was only a few blocks away. But, there was one thing Levi just couldn’t shake from the back of his mind. 

Just what the hell were her and Erwin talking about? 

  
  
  


Hange hadn’t slept very well that night. It felt like there were 8 million different strings being pulled in her head as she tossed and turned. It wasn’t until her eyes opened at the sound of her alarm that she let out an audible groan. Then she remembered that Erwin was giving her the day off. With a sigh she looked over at the alarm clock that sat on her nightstand. The time read 8:12 AM. The brunette rubbed her eyes a bit as she sat up in her bed before tossing the sheets off of herself. 

The wooden floors were cold against her feet as she padded into the kitchen. Her phone sat on the kitchen counter, thankfully with only a few email notifications. No one had blown anything up at the college, and no one had started any fights in her classroom with the sub which was great for her. Now she just had to find something to do. 

As if on cue her stomach made a loud rumbling noise. She let a sigh escape her lips before a smile graced her lips. Her fingers nimbly swiped across her phone screen as she dialed the one of the numbers in her contact list. 

One ring, two rings, three rings, and finally on the fourth ring the line picked up. 

“Why the hell are you calling me this early?” a monotone voice asked in a slightly annoyed tone. 

“Are you open right now?” she asked as she made her way back towards her bedroom. 

There was a sigh before the voice continued. “I own a damn coffee shop, why the fuck _wouldn’t_ I be open at 8 in the morning, dumbass?” 

Hange laughed a bit as she tossed her phone on her bed before walking towards her dresser and pulling one of the drawers out. “Great then, I’ll be by soon for my morning dose of caffeine.” 

The call ended abruptly, but Hange continued with getting dressed. Today she wore a black sweater then clung to her a bit more, a pair of grey sweatpants, and her winter coat. Her hair was pulled back into its usual position on the top of her head before she located her glasses and pushed them onto the bridge of her nose. Once she had her keys and phone in hand, the woman quickly walked out her front door, locked it, and started towards Levi’s shop. 

The walk was different when she didn’t have a strict time schedule to keep. It was much more laid back and enjoyable, but the winter wind still nipped at the tip of her nose as she rushed towards the warmth of the coffee shop. 

She made it there in about 20 minutes, the first thing she was greeted with was the sight of Levi drinking a cup of tea at the register. She looked around for a moment before walking closer to the man. 

“Did all of your employees abandon you because you’re an asshole?” 

Levi peered up from his cup and scoffed at her comment. “They went to get us some breakfast. Now what do you want?” 

Hange shrugged as she approached the register, digging the correct change out of the pockets of her sweatpants before sliding across the counter to Levi. “Same thing I always get. A latte with four shots of espresso.” 

Levi shivered at the imaginary taste before standing to make the drink. “That thing _has_ to give you the runs.” he mumbled as he packed the shots into the machine and looked back at her. He could tell she was thinking about his comment by the look of curiosity in her eyes.

“Well, I’ve never shit my pants after drinking one.” 

“Not yet.” he whispered, which made her chuckle as she sat at the bar and watched every movement he made. 

Levi bit his lip, knowing that her brown eyes were following every little thing he did, probably making notes about how he operated in his own damn business or some shit like that. 

“What were you and Erwin talking about last night?” 

He was surprised that the question had actually passed his tongue and made its way out into the atmosphere the way it did, and judging by her slack jawed expression so was she. There was silence between them for a few minutes before Hange cleared her throat. 

“Well, it was about work, technically.” she admitted after a few moments. “I’m glad he didn’t throw me under the bus at that moment though.” 

Hange let out an awkward laugh as she moved her gaze to her own hands rather than Levi. He could hear the gears turning in her head as she tried to find a way to explain herself, and what the topic of their discussion had actually been. 

“I’ve always had a difficult time when it comes to my choices in the world. I always have this nagging voice in the back of my head asking me if I’m doing the right thing.” The brunette turned in her bar stool to look at the couch she had occupied with Eren, Armin, and Mikasa the day before. “When I was here with them yesterday I genuinely doubted that if I was helping them, even if I had spent so much my own time just to get them to understand the material.” 

She turned back to Levi, who was pouring the last shot into her cup and snapping the lid onto it. “Even the college kids I have doing research with me. Sometimes I wonder if I’m actually helping them or if my guidance is pointless and useless.” 

Levi handed the cup to her and grabbed a rag to wipe down the machine. He could see her face, and how her mouth and eyes reflected the same emotions as he had seen last night on the sidewalk. Dark and lost in thought, He didn’t like it, not one bit. 

“Hange, if you didn’t automatically fail Jager in that moment you’re doing more than most teachers would.” 

Levi watched her smirk at the comment before he went back to his spot at the register. Hange took a sip from her coffee cup and let the warmth travel from her mouth down her throat, filling the pit of her stomach with something a bit more comforting than the previous emptiness. “Your sister is a good student.” she whispered against the lid of her cup before taking another sip. Levi froze for a second before he let his cup come to his lips. All he could do was grunt at the information. 

“She’s more of an art kid, but her papers are damn good. I’ll give her that.” 

Hange stood from her barstool and walked back to the register to have another glance at Levi. 

“How is such a well behaved girl related to someone like you?” 

Levi looked at her and shrugged. “She was raised in a different environment I guess. Our mom had me when she was a hell of a lot younger.” 

Hange nodded before shooting Levi and smiled. “Maybe you were just a stick in the mud then too?” 

“You look constipated when you smile like that.” he mumbled before standing from his seat. “Can’t believe I tried to make you feel better and you insulted me.” 

Hange scoffed before standing up straight. “You called me a dumbass this morning when I called you, so technically _you_ started it.” 

“You asked a stupid fucking question.” he defended as he placed his cup in the sink before he turned on the faucet to wash his hands. 

Hange tilted her head to the side for a moment before rolling her eyes. “You need to loosen up.” she observed with one hand on her hip. Suddenly, the woman gasped and pointed to Levi. “I should get with Erwin and plan a karaoke night! We’ll force you out!” 

Levi gave her a frown and a scowl. “Fuck no. I’d rather walk into oncoming traffic.” 

Before Hange could respond, the door chimed. In walked Levi;s staff members, each of them carrying a part of their shared breakfast feast. 

“Hello, Hange!” Petra cooed as she walked in, Gunther and Eld giving her a wave as Oulo simply eyed her up and down with suspicion. “Sorry we left you alone here with Levi. He didn’t give you too much trouble, did he?” 

Levi glared at Petra for a second before turning on his heel and walking to his office. “Goodbye, Hange.” he called as he closed the door. 

Hange groaned and pulled her phone out of her pocket, rapidly searching for Erwin’s contact. “Don’t worry Levi!” she yelled as she walked towards the door. “Erwin and I will take care of the planning for our outing!” 

  
All that could be heard from then on was a muffled _“Fuck off.”_ from the other side of Levi’s office door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mmmm Hange has issues. That's the gist of this chapter honestly. Gonna dive deeper into Levi in the next chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

The best thing about teacher’s lounge coffee was that it was something you could look forward to. At the lowest point of your day you could always walk into the adults safe haven that consisted of printers and mothballs and pour yourself a coffee cup. The down side? It was teacher lounge’s coffee, and it tasted like hot dirt water. Even as Hange added the eighth packet of creamer to the cup, she still grimaced at the taste. 

“You’re gonna have a sugar high in like ten minutes.” A voice called from the doorway. Hange instantly whipped around and saw the familiar face of Mike. The brunette snorted and took another sip before giving him a disgusted smile.

Mike had been the boys football coach for the past 4 years, and if Hange was being honest, he had done a pretty great job at carrying the team to victory. Then again, the woman knew almost nothing about the game. “You smell gross.” she told him with a laugh as she sat down at one of the tables. The blonde took a seat next to her and rolled his eyes before pointing towards her hair. “And I could cook an egg on the top of your head with that amount of grease, yet I didn’t say anything about it.” 

Hange raised a brow and gave him a soft  _ “tocuhé” _ under her breath before slumping into her seat. “How’s Nana?” she asked gently in reference to Mike's girlfriend. The man nodded for a second before letting a smile spread across his face. 

“She’s good. Volleyball season is ending in a month I think, so I haven’t really seen her much. But when I do see her she seems to be doing fine.” 

Mike's eyes turned to Hange for a moment as he took in the way she was carrying herself. She seemed almost defeated, but asking her would just lead her to lie. It had happened before. Mike could see when she was getting upset or worked up, but asking how she was doing always resulted in the same boring answer. “Im fine, just tired.” 

“You know,” he started as the man stretched in his seat a bit, his long limbs stretching above his head, “Erwin told me about your plan to force Ackerman out onto the town.” 

Hange perked up at the mention of her weekend plans. She had almost forgotten that a little over a week ago she had made Levi a promise that they would go out on the town and actually have fun. 

“He did?” she asked with a small smile. Once Mike had nodded and affirmative, Hange turned in her seat to face the man. “How do you know Levi, anyways?” 

Mike sat there for a moment before grinning. “He hung out a lot with Erwin in highschool and college. So, once I had met the guy I had to learn to deal with his bad attitude.” The corner of Mike’s lip turned up into a smile before crossing his arms over his broad chest. “Plus, Nanaba likes this iced tea he has at the shop. We stop by every now and then so she can get some.” 

Hange heard the sound of the bell ringing before she could even respond to Mike. The echoing of sweaty teenagers starting a stampede in the hallways made the teacher sigh before she stood up from her seat. “I gotta get back to my class,” she told the man before placing a hand on his shoulder. “Have a nice weekend, Mike. Tell Nana I love her when you see her, got it?” 

“Gotcha.” he confirmed with a firm nod before Hange exited the teachers lounge, her shitty cup of coffee in hand. 

  
  
  
  


The first thing Levi realized from this text conversation he was having with Hange was that she really  _ had _ been serious about forcing him out that weekend. It was Friday night and he had managed to get the shop closed pretty quickly, now he was at home just about to hop in the shower when his phone chimed. As the two had communicated back and forth for a few minutes, Levi slowly began to grow irritated. 

_ Hange: Levi, Literally just get ready it’s not that difficult to understand?  _

_ Levi: No, I don’t think you understand that I’m not interested in singing terrible fucking kareoke songs with you and Erwin on a Friday night.  _

_ Hange: You don’t have to sing, just come out and relax for once. See you in thirty minutes short ass.  _

Levi didn’t know how to respond. Honestly did he even want to respond to her at this point? He had a decision to make; either stand her up and deal with her wrath later, or suck it up for a few hours and make her happy. In that moment. Levi had picked the lesser of two evils and resigned to his room to change clothes. When he had finally emerged he looked over his outfit in the hallway mirror. His black pants were pressed perfectly, the buttons on his white shirt were all perfectly aligned. Hell, even his dress shoes were scuff free. As he reached for his keys and phone, he got another message from Hange with the address of the bar. 

As he drove towards the location, Levi couldn't help but imagine the horrors that awaited him. With both Hange  _ and  _ Erwin in such close proximity to alcohol and a microphone he really didn’t know what he would be getting himself into. 

When he arrived in the parking lot, Levi spotted Erwin walking in from his car, but there were two people he saw accompanying the man that Levi wanted to throw his car into reverse and go the hell back home. But, it was too late. Before his hands could move to the gear shift Erwin had spotted his car and waved at the ravenette to walk in with them. He groaned under his breath and fought back to urge to slam his head into the center of his steering wheel before killing the engine and kicking his door open. As he walked towards the group, he kept his gaze trained on Erwin. 

“I thought it was just us two and Hange?” 

“Hello to you too, Levi.” 

Levi craned his neck upwards and gave the other blonde man a scowl. 

“Micheal.” 

“It’s Mike.” 

The woman standing next to Mike tried to control her giggles before giving Levi a smile. 

  
“It’s good to see you too, Levi.” 

Levi looked to the blonde woman and nodded his head to acknowledge her presence. Nanaba was someone Levi was able to tolerate, kinda like Petra. She was cheerful enough to get annoying but rarely got to that point. Mike on the other hand actively attempted to drive Levi up a wall and get any sort of reaction out of him.

“Well,” Erwin started as he shoved his hands into his coat pockets in an attempt to shield them from the cold air, “Hange asked them to come along because she knew you would be a stick in the mud. You don’t mind, right?” 

Mike and Erwin were both gazing at Levi, daring him to make himself seem like an asshole in front of Nanaba. The raven in return sighed and simply shook his head. “No, I couldn’t give two shits who’s here. As long as I don’t have to sing I’ll be fine.” 

Hange appeared from the shadows of the street not too long after. She looked pretty clean, and that's saying a lot considering she usually looked like she was on her second week without a shower. Levi eyed her up and down as she jogged to meet up with the group. A black turtleneck, speaking of did she  _ only  _ wear sweaters? His eyes went lower for a second and he noticed her jeans were clean for the most part, and she even had a pair of boots on her feet. 

As Hange walked towards the group she flung her arms open and waited for whoever would greet her first. Nanaba rushed forward and engulfed the brunette in a massive hug before Mike followed and gave her a quick embrace. 

“I haven’t seen you since the season started!” Nanaba complained. 

“I know, I know. Between you having practice every night of the week and me shuttling between both campuses I never got the chance to text you and set up a time to hang out.” 

Erwin motioned for everyone to head inside as he held the bar door open. “Hange, find us a table or a booth.” Erwin said as he trailed behind everyone. The woman's brown eyes scanned the seating area before she found a large booth that could fit all five of them. She rushed over and scooted into the seats as her friends followed. It didn’t take long for a young waitress to walk over and take the drink orders. 

“A round of shots for the entire table.” Mike said before anyone else could interrupt before sliding some cash across the table. The woman nodded and took the payment before rushing back towards the bar. 

Hange’s eyes were staring at the karaoke machine at the front of the stage. Anyone could see she was excited to take part in live, pitchy sing-a-longs. Why wouldn’t she be? “Hange,” Erwin called. “What’s your first song of the night gonna be?” 

The woman shrugged and relaxed into her seat a bit. “Well,” she said with a sigh, “I’m not sure what selections they have.” 

“I vote for Billy Joel.” Mike said from his side, a grin spreading across his face. 

Levi’s head snapped up at his words. “Fuck no.” He responded flatly. “Every time we didn’t start the fire, my blood boils.” 

Mike made a mental note of that tidbit of information before the waitress returned with the first round of drink for the evening. As the glasses were pushed around, the liquids were tossed back and downed. Hange and Nanaba let out a cheer of happiness while Erwin and Mike simply watched the two women. Levi just raised a brow at the two women’s excitement before running his finger around the rim of the shot glass. 

“Alright,” Hange finally said with a sense of determination. “It’s time to get our asses up there. Who’s going with me?” 

Nanaba’s hand shot up into the air first, the brunette grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the stage. As the women scrolled through the songs Erwin, Mike, and Levi were left at the table to talk amongst themselves. 

“Are you two actually going to sing?” Levi asked casually as the waitress came back by. 

“Another round,” Mike asked with a smile as he slid her some more cash. “If Nana or Hange asks me to I will. What about you, Erwin?” 

The blonde sat there for a moment and nodded. “Yeah, I might sing a song or two after a few more drinks. I’ll have to get my courage up a bit so I can handle the embarrassment.” 

Out of the blue, the lights at the beginning of the stage started going wild, and the other patrons of the bar gathered around the stage to witness the show that was Hange and Nanaba. But, the audio that started playing made Mike burst out in laughter and Levi sit up straighter in his seat. 

“That asshole,” the Raven muttered under his breath as he stared daggers towards Hange. 

“That genius!” Mike cried as he held his stomach in an attempt to get control of hisblaughing fit. 

Leave it to Hange to find a damn Billy Joel song to sing along with. The tale tell intro of “Uptown Girl” was blasting over the speakers as the crowd cheered at the selection. Levi was a second away from getting up and kicking Hange’s ass when he heard it. 

_ W _

_ hy the fuck was she a good singer?  _

It made absolutely no sense for someone like Hange to sound  _ that  _ good when singing. Especially when her booming voice made Levi want to purchase noise cancelling headphones. It blended with the audio effortlessly, and the man caught himself staring at her for a bit longer than usual before he settled back down in his seat. He hadn't even noticed that the waitress had dropped off the next round of shots, so he took his and downed it without another word. 

Nanaba and Hange sang a few more songs, then they convinced Mike to join them, then Erwin for another. Levi was alone with his vodka until Hange came sauntering over towards him, a bit of sweat making itself noticeable across her brow. 

“I invited you out so you could socialize, you know?” 

The woman flopped down in the booth next to Levi before wiping away the sweat with her forearm, her amber eyes looking up at him with the familiar light they always had. 

“I told you I wasn’t going to sing,” he mumbled. “And what the fuck was with the Billy Joel?” 

Hange looked at him for a second before a shit eating grin spread across her face. “I did it to get on your nerves. It worked, didn’t it?” 

Levi looked at her for a moment before his lips twitched down into a frown. “You’re an asshole. A weird fucking asshole. “

Hange sat up and reached for the rest of the shots glasses that still had vodka left in them. “Looks like I have some catching up to do?” She asked him with a chuckle as she finished every other drink that was on the table. 

Subconsciously Levi made a note to avoid her in the next thirty minutes when the drinks started having a fist fight in her stomach. He was the last person who wanted to see the effects it would have on her. “You’re really not going to sing?” she asked him with a pout that made him feel incredibly uncomfortable. 

“No. And stop making that face.” The two fell into silence after that. Hange was focused on Erwin and Mike singing over Nanaba at the front of the stage, while Levi stared at the back of her head. 

“You’re not a bad singer.” he blurted out. 

Hange tilted her head to look at him, the red patch spreading across her face either being from embarrassment or alcohol, perhaps a combination of the two. “Thank you.” she said softly. 

“Hange!” Erwin called from the stage as Nanaba and Mike stepped off and walked towards their seats. The blonde was waving her over. “This is the last song then we’re heading home. You wanna do it with me?” 

Hange stood from the booth and did a double take of Levi for a moment. “It’s the last song, are you sure you don’t wanna give it a shot?” 

Levi held up his hands and shook his head. “No, I’d rather stay here.” 

Hange shrugged and jogged towards the stage, Erwin handing her the extra mic. They scrolled through the songs for a few minutes before Hange gasped. The music started. Levi groaned as he heard the  _ next  _ song choice. 

“Who the fuck sings Mama Mia at a kareoke bar?” he asked himself. It actually made perfect sense. But he didn’t like the song they were singing, at least not when it was Erwin and Hange singing it to each other. 

“Leave it to Hange to find that song in the index.” Nanaba said as her and Mike approached Levi. He jolted a bit when he heard her voice, not knowing that the two were that close to their sitting area. “Why’d she pick this song?” Levi asked with a sigh, rubbing his eyes with the palm of his hands. 

Nanaba laughed and shrugged. “It’s her favourite part of the movie.” 

Levi glared at Erwin as the two sang together. The song was “Lay All Your Love On Me.” 

With the combination of Hange’s voice and the way her and Erwin were  _ really  _ selling the emotions of the song for everyone to enjoy, Levi was starting to get annoyed. He wanted to get up and leave that moment, he wasn’t sure why but he did. But, he knew Hange would never forgive him if he ditched her. 

So, Levi forced himself to sit through the painstaking performance. The moment the music came to an end he climbed out of the booth and started towards the parking lot. The raven was almost to the door when he heard her voice. 

“Levi!” 

He stopped dead in his tracks, one hand on the door and the other clenched at his side. He took a sharp breath before turning around to look at the woman.

“What?” he asked with a raised brow. The smile he saw on her face quickly melted into a look of confusion. “A-are you okay?” She asked him gently. “You’re leaving pretty quickly.” 

“Hange, it’s late I just wanna head home.” 

“But-” 

The sound of her retching made Levi’s steely eyes widen as it happened. It was a warm feeling, and wet as well. But, the chunks were terrible. He fought the urge to push her away, but that resulted in him just standing there with vomit all over pants. Nanaba, Erwin, and Mike rushed over, both of their eyes wide in shock. 

“Jesus, Hans.” Mike whispered as he rubbed her back. 

Hange waved him off her before she squatted down to catch her breath. “I’m okay,” she assured them. 

“Hange, we gotta get you home before you pass out.” Nanaba told her. “Cmon the last bus is gonna leave in a few minutes we gotta get moving.” 

Hange sighed and nodded her head before attempting to stand up with the help of Mike. 

“I’ll drive her home.” 

Erwin’s blue eyes looked to Levi for a second and raised a brow. 

“Are you sure?” he asked in a serious tone. 

Levi shot him a glare before sighing. “I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t sure, idiot.” His eyes shifted to Nanaba and Mike before opening the door. “Get her to my car.” he said once they made it outside the door, Levi’s hands moving to wipe the vomit of his hands before shaking them rapidly, his irritation at the situation growing. He smelled and felt so uncomfortable that he knew the drive home would be hell on earth, but then he looked at the pailing brunette who was being escorted to the passenger side of his car. He knew she felt bad, but he honestly didn’t want her to attempt to apologize.

“Levi,” Erwin said gently as he placed a hand on the shorter of the two shoulders. The blonde could tell he was irritated, and based on his facial expression and body language, some of it had been directed at him. But that was a discussion for later. 

“Get her home safe, and have a good night.” He said in a dismissing tone. The man waved to Mike and Nanaba with a grin before heading on his own route. Mike was pulling Nanaba away from the passenger side of Levi’s car, the blonde’s face etched with worry. 

“Make sure you drink water and take some advil! Shower in the morning! Don’t fall when you walk up the steps to your front door-” 

“Nana, the bus.” Mike said in a dismissive tone before finally pulling the woman away and wrapping his arm around her. Mike’s eyes met with Levi’s, both of them nodding a goodbye before Levi turned his attention back towards the sick brunette sitting in his vehicle. He let out a small sigh before walking towards the driver side and stepping in. Once the key was in the ignition and the engine roared to life, he turned the heater on and directed one of the vents to Hange. 

“Are you stable enough for me to drive?” he asked in a low tone as he looked her over a bit. Her hair was a bit disheveled and her glasses were slipping down her nose a bit, but she didn’t say anything. 

“Hey,” he prodded again. When there still wasn't a response, Levi snapped his fingers in front of Hange’s dark eyes. “Shit head, can you hear me or not?” 

Her head snapped towards him for a second, her eyes watering a bit. 

‘I’m sorry I puked on you.” 

Her usually loud and cheerful voice had toned down to a meek whisper, and Levi was taken back a bit at her change of demeanor. His eyes closed for a second before he shook his head. 

“Hange, it’s okay you’re drunk. It’s not like you  _ chose _ to vomit all over me.” he looked down at his bodily fluid covered clothes before putting the car in gear and pulling out of the parking lot. 

“I know, but I still feel bad.” she whispered, words slurred a bit. “I know you like things being tidy and neat and shit like that, and I just made a massive mess.” 

Levi’s eyes were trained on the road as he maneuvered through traffic, trying his best to keep his driving patterns steady so he could avoid a second encounter with the contents of Hange’s stomach. 

“Stop talking.” he finally said. “Or if you’re gonna talk, then talk about something that’s not puke or stomach bile, or anything like that.” 

Hange huffed at him and pushed her glasses up onto her head before turning her head to look towards Levi. Her vision was blurry, but staring at his hands on the steering wheel was better than making herself nauseous with all the lights passing by. 

“I’m starting a new research project at the University.” She mumbled under her breath. Levi hummed and turned the wheel. He never heard much about what she researched at the University, but he assumed that she had a team of people helping her around the clock. How else would she be able to help with the classes at the highschool. 

“What do you research?” 

There was silence in the air for a second, and Levi suddenly became worried he had over stepped some sort of boundary. From the corner of his eye he could see the look of complete wonder on Hange’s face. Did no one ever ask her about this kinda stuff?

‘W-well” she said with a small laugh as she adjusted herself in the car seat. “Im currently doing cancer research with my students and team members. It’s something that’s really important to me, y’know? People’s lives depend on what we’re doing.” 

Levi understood what she meant, and a part of him admired her for her desire to learn and help people who need it. 

After that Hange closed her eyes and let Levi drive in silence. He gladly accepted the quietness. Once he started getting closer to his own apartment, he nudged the brunette and cleared his throat. 

“Hange. Where the fuck is your house?” 

The woman groaned and sat up in her seat before pulling her glasses back down onto her nose. “Take a right on Main, fourth house on the left. It's brown.” she mumbled as she began unbuckling her seatbelt. The moment Levi put the car in park she was attempting to step out. 

“Hey, hey Hange. Wait a second.” he called as he quickly sprinted from his side of the car to help her out. Hange already had the door open and was walking towards her door. She held a hand up, signaling for Levi to stay where she was before she let the rest of her stomach contents come up onto her sidewalk. A few moments later she was wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. The woman took a deep breath through her nose before standing up right.

“C’mon.” Levi mumbled as he motioned towards her front door. “Give me the damn keys.” 

Hange obeyed and flung the key ring towards him. Levi couldn't help but notice the small frog figure that was attached to her keys. It was so fucking  _ her.  _

He twisted the key in the lock before pushing the door open. Her home smelled like mint and moth balls. A unique scent, and one of them he wasn’t exactly fond of, but he expected it to be so much worse. The plants that littered the floor and other surfaces were in incredibly good shape, but the furniture that was in sight were old and obviously worn in. 

“Where’s your room? You need to get to bed before you pass the fuck out on the hardwood floors.”

Hange pointed towards the door at the end of a long hallway. He nodded to show he understood before he helped her down the hallway. Once she opened the door and plopped down onto her dark green bedspread, Levi let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He was relieved that she made it home safe and was going to hopefully feel better the next morning. 

“Remember what Nanaba said. Drink water, take some painkillers, and take a fucking shower in the morning.” 

Hange held up a thumbs up before tugging her sheets over her shoulder. 

“And take your shoes off!” he shouted as he walked back towards the front door. The raven made sure to lock the door on his way out before heading to his car. He slipped back into the driver's seat and started the engine. 

He sat there for a moment, staring down the street before returning his grip on the steering wheel, his knuckles turning a deadly shade of white as he sped off towards his own apartment. He needed to talk to Erwin ASAP. There was a question he needed answered. 

_ Why was he jealous of a fucking tall blonde weirdo that sang kareoke with the woman who just upchucked all over him?  _

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hange's VA is a great singer so I had an excuse. Also, Im introducing the warriors next chapter as Hange's university students.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She didn’t exactly have the luxury of simply breaking down and feeling bad for herself, 
> 
> She didn't have time to be selfish.

Levi sat in the living room with his phone in hand. His grey eyes were staring at the screen intently for the past twenty minutes, waiting for the contact name to pop up on the screen. It was taking forever, and irritation was bubbling at the surface. In his head he continued the seconds: one, two, three, four five, six- then the ring,

His thumb immediately slammed down on his phone screen, the device being pulled to his ear instantly.

“What was so important you texted me three time within a 20 second span?”

Levi sat in silence for a moment.

“I think I’m mad at you.”

The voice on the other end paused for a split second before they cleared their throat.

“And when did you come to this realization?”

“I don’t fucking know? Maybe two days ago?”

Of course Erwin was on the other line, but his tone of voice had become different. There was something about it that Levi just couldn’t seem to place.

“Are you there or not, asshole?”

A warm laugh rang through his head. The bastard was smiling.

“Yes, Levi. I’m here. Sorry. I had to make a note of the way you’re being so forward with your emotions? Most of the time you just give me the cold shoulder for a few days, add a few more swear’s into our conversations, and that’s the end of it. You’ve never really come to me and admitted you’re upset.”

Hearing those words from Erwin made Levi tense a bit. In all honesty, this man was Levi’s best friend. Sure, he wasn’t the most upfront with how he felt, but Erwin knew him. He had to have known that Levi was upset that night, right?

“Well,” Levi breathed out with a sigh, “Are you going to ask me why I’m upset?”

Erwin chuckled into the receiver before eventually giving into Levi’s wishes. “Fine. Why are you upset?”

Levi bit his lip before taking a steady breath to prepare himself for what he was about to admit.

“I think I was upset that Hange sang with you and not me?”

Erwin began to speak but stopped abruptly. “Mhm.” he mumbled, Levi could envision the blonde shaking his head in his office right at that moment. “Well Levi. I really don’t know what to tell you?”

“The fuck do you mean?”

Erwin’s heavy sigh rang in Levi’s ear. The lecture was coming and the idea of just hanging up the phone sounded amazing.

“Levi, she asked you multiple times to get up and have some fun and you refused. The only person that was holding you back from that experience was you.” There was a bit of silence before Erwin began to speak again, this time a bit softer. “Look, had I known you wanted to take my spot I would’ve gladly taken a sear and let you go up there to look like an idiot. But, you didn’t say anything. I’m not sure why considering you’re always incredibly vocal about that kind of stuff, but I don’t think you want to divulge that to me right now.”

Levi nodded, although he knew Erwin couldn’t see it. He watched as his cat climbed up on the couch next to him, the man's hand reaching out to scratch behind the creature's ears gently. “I guess you’re right.”

“Hey Levi,” Erwin called after a few moments.

“What?”

“Have you ever had an actual conversation with Hange?”

Levi froze and thought. There had been that one conversation a few weeks ago. He saw a much more raw version of her, plus when he drove her home she divulged how passionate she was about her research at the university. But other than that he had only had surface level conversations with her.

“Not really. Why are you asking?”

“Well then, maybe you should try and talk to her rather than becoming pissy about missing a karaoke session. You two probably have a lot more in common than you’d think.”

In the background of Erwin’s call, Levi could hear the sounds of shouting and what sounded like another side argument.

“I have to go, there’s an emergency going on outside the office. Just shoot her a text. Hopefully she’ll answer? It’s a research day at the University for her so response times may be delayed a bit.”

Before Levi could even mutter the word “bye” Erwin had ended the call. There he sat on the couch, his cat curled up next to him. Looking at the time, Levi groaned and stood from his spot on the couch. He needed to head over to the shop anyways. When he clocked out for his break he’d send her a text. Until then he had to put up with everything else in his life.

“Good Morning, Everyone!”

Hange walked into her lab with a massive smile spread across her face. From different spots in the lab she saw a few heads turn to look at her. Moblit and Nifa gave her a wave as they went back to whatever they were working on. From across the room she saw a familiar head of long dark hair resting against one of the lab tables. The taller woman walked towards her. Hange’s hand clapped down on the woman’s shoulder before leaning down.

“Why are you asleep?”

The figure shifted and groaned with a sigh. “Cause I’m tired, Professor Hange.”

“Well then, maybe you should go to bed earlier, shouldn’t you Pieck?”

The woman sat up and gazed toward Hange before giving her a sleepy smile. “I’d love to go to bed earlier, if only my favourite Professor wasn’t so demanding of me.”

Hange froze for a second, and from across the room Moblit;s voice chimed in.

“Hey, Pieck! D-don’t make her mad! She just got here-”

Hange let a loud laugh echo through the lab before elbowing Pieck’s side. “She has a good sense of humor, Moblit. Don’t worry about it.”

Hange knew she demanded a lot of her students. But, Pieck was special. She was considerably younger than the rest of the interns, only 18 while the others were well into their master’s programs. Pieck has graduated early from highschool along with her friend Porco, although he was going to school on a track scholarship rather than an achedum one like Pieck. They were friends with Zeke Jaeger who was running his own research group under the instruction of Instructor Magath. But Pieck? She was here helping Hange with her cancer research in hopes of helping her ailing father. She worked incredibly hard, and reminded her of Moblit and Nifa’s drive. That’s why Hange had agreed with the Dean to take the young girl under her wing.

“Now then!” Hange cheered with a bit too much enthusiasm. “Nife, Moblit. What have you two been working on?”

Moblit scrambled to find their report as Nifa watched from her work station. Hange took the paper’s and squinted at the words, nodding every now and then as she took in the information. “Ah!” She called as her finger pointed to a section. “You have an error here. Run this test one more time for me? Pretty please? The last thing you want is inaccurate data in your research.”

Moblit nodded and returned to Nifa’s side. Hange listened to her two assistants discuss where they had gone wrong. The brunette returned her attention to Pieck who had finally arisen to continue whatever she hell she had been working on.

“Pieck.” Hange said in a softer tone as she took a seat next to the darker haired woman. “I read your latest paper.”

This made the woman perk up a bit. “You did?” she asked with a raised brow. “Well? Did it meet your standards?”

Hange reached down and dug the paper’s from her satchel before plopping it down on the table. It had a massive “A” written in the corner. “It’s great as usual. There were a few phrases I would reword just so it;s easier to understand for other’s outside our area of research, but I’m not penalizing you for that.”

Pieck nodded and took the paper, her fingers rubbing the paper between her thumbs. Hange could tell this girl had a passion for what she was doing, and the light in her eyes was so familiar that it brought a smile to Hange’s face.

“How’s your dad?” she asked in a whisper.

Pieck looked up at her with large eyes before turning her gaze back to the paper. She saw the girls grip on the paper tighten a bit, but she had a soft smile spread across her face.

“He’s not getting worse, so that’s good I suppose.” She stopped talking for a second before looking at Hange. “We’re helping him, right?”

The question caught Hange off guard completely. She liked to believe that the four of them were doing great things for the world. But was she 100% sure? No. No one could ever be sure. But was now the moment to really tell the woman sitting in front of her that it could all be for nothing?

“Yeah. We’re helping him a shit ton.”

Hange reached out and ruffled Pieck’s head full of raven hair before heading towards her own research area. “Alright guys, let’s keep up the work, okay? We have six months before our deadline is upon us and we gotta get ahead of schedule. That is unless you guys are looking forward to sleepover’s in this lab?”

“No.” Nifa said from her spot while Pieck chuckled at her computer. Hange let out a groan before running her hands through her ponytail. “You guys are no fun!.”

The four of them all began to get to work on their own tasks. Nifa and Moblit were re-running their test’s, Pieck was typing away at her laptop, while Hange was bouncing between monitoring their actions and grading her own papers and making corrections. The group were able to get a decent amount of work done before Nifa begged Hange for their lunch breaks.

“True researches don’t need a lunch break.”

Nifa and Moblit stared at Hange for a second before both of them were sighing in unison. “Pieck,” Moblit called from across the room. “Please talk some sense into her. You two relate on a weird level.”

Pieck was still typing away on her computer before she stopped and turned around. She met eyes with Moblit before her eyes also fell onto the back of her professor. The shorter woman stood up and walked towards Hange with a smile on her face.

“Hange.” She called with a grin before placing one hand on the woman's shoulder while the other game to cover her mouth in an attempt to shield everyone from her massive yawn. “We’re all hungry. I’m tired, and you need to walk every few hours so your legs won’t fall off.”

Hange scoffed before looking up at her with a raised brow and a sort of smirk. “We both know I’m too smart to lose my leg, but if you all are so worried about me then I guess we can take an hour break for lunch.”

Nifa high fived Moblit before the two assistance began packing up the materials they had been working with. Pieck stood next to Hange’s side while the older of the two pulled her phone out of her pocket for the first time all morning. She saw a text from Levi, and the directions were pretty simple.

Stop by today if you can.

The woman couldn't control that her eyebrow shot up in a confused look. She thought that she’d be the last person Levi wanted to see. No more than 72 she had vomited all over his clothes, then had to be practically carried into her own home because she didn't seem to understand what self control was. But didn’t Hange ever truly know when enough was enough? She would throw herself head first into a certain task and go at it until she was burnt out. That was how she operated, and that’s how karaoke with Levi and the others had ended up. She continued to have as much fun as she could until she reached the point of no return. Now, she was sitting at her desk awkwardly looking at Levi’s message as she debated whether or not she could handle any type of interaction with him.

“Are we leaving or not?”

It was Pieck’s voice who rang through her eyes as Hange pulled herself out of her thoughts and into reality. The Professor cleared her throat harshly before shoving her phone into her pocket and nodded. “Y-yeah. Let’s go.”

Everyone left the lab together. Nifa and Moblit were chatting as they all walked through the hallways until they reached the doors leading to the outdoor area of campus. Pieck was texting her friends on her phone as Hange walked beside her.

“You guys wanna head to the coffee shop that’s on Main street?”

Nifa looked back at Hange, her cherry red hair falling from the position it had been tucked into. “Oh, you mean Labyrinth?”

Hange thought for a second. Was that the name of his shop? For some reason she couldn’t remember the name, but it sounded familiar. “Yeah, that one.”

Moblit shrugged and Pieck agreed from behind her phone screen. “Alright then, it’s settled.”

The walk from Hange’s area of the campus to the coffee shop was a good twenty minutes, but they were lucky that the lunch rush has yet to set in. The chime of the bell and the familiar brown couches and chairs felt welcoming as the group crossed the threshold. Hange saw Levi and Petra at the counter, and the look of shock on his face when he saw her made Hange nearly turn back around. He was going to have her ass for what she pulled that past weekend, wasn’t he?

“Welcome!” Petra called cheerfully as the rest of the group made their way to the counter to place their order. Hange insisted she pay for the entire thing since she was the one pushing them so hard in their research, thus she ordered last.

“Can I just have a black tea today, Petra?”

The strawberry blonde looked up with her round eyes before tilting her head to the side. “No caffeine for you today?”

Hange chuckled a bit before handing the woman her credit card to charge the entire order. “No, I’ve been feeling a bit too jittery for my liking. I'm trying to see if cutting down on the amount of caffeine I ingest will change that.”

She could feel Levi looking at her from the other side of the counter, so she decided to initiate the conversation before he could make it any more awkward.

“Hello, Levi.” she said with a smile.

“Hange.”

“How are your clothes?”

“I washed them if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“Not exactly what I asked, but it answers my question to an extent.”

Levi’s cold eyes twitched to look at Petra. “I’ll make the tea,” He said plainly. “I’m better at it anyways.”

Hange watched as Petra handed him Hange’s cup. The burnette stood and watched him for a moment before finding more courage to speak. “Is there a reason you requested my presence here today?”

Levi looked up from under his dark bangs as he measured the tea leaves into a steeper and poured the correct amount of water into the cup. “Just making sure you’re alive after what happened Friday night. Usually you’d message me something super fucking stupid, but I had yet to get anything from you.”

Hange stood there wide eyed before erupting into laughter. He was worried about her well being? Jesus. And here she stood thinking he was going to scold her infront of her team and student like an idiot.

“What’s so damn funny?” Levi demanded, obviously not entertained. In fact he seemed increasingly annoyed at her reaction.

“It’s just-” she said with another cackle as she gasped for air, “I came here thinking you’d be pissed at me for what happened. But it seems to be the exact opposite.” Hange raised a hand to wipe a tear from the corner of her eyes before leaning onto the pastry display case to get a closer look at what Levi was doing from behind the bar.

“If you’re worried about me drinking too much, you’d be absolutely mortified at the other aspects of my miserable life.”

There it was. She realized she had said too much. The second she looked up and saw he was staring into her soul, Hange saw it. The same look in his eyes that she had seen in her own reflection many times over. They almost spoke telepathically.

“Hange,” He spoke in a warning tone. “The hell do you mean by that?”

She was frozen, but thankfully Petra saved her as she called for the rest of Hange’s order. Nifa, Moblit, and Pieck all rose from the nearby couch to get their pastries and drinks as they turned to look at their superior.

“Hange.” Pieck called out. “We gotta get back, Zeke needs to ask you some questions from his research program.”

Hange jerked her head to look at her friends who stared at her, waiting for the fearless leader they knew to accompany them back to their life changing work.

“I-I’ll catch up. Just let him into the lab when he arrives.”

The three all looked at one another in hopes of someone having a reason before shrugging and going on about their day.

In the meantime, Hange had turned her attention back to the raven haired man across the counter.

“I don’t know how to explain what I said.”

Levi could only stare at her, and the way he just looked her up and down filled Hange with disgust. Was it anger on his face? Repulsion? What was he thinking?

“Hange-”

“Can I have my tea.”

It wasn’t phrased like a question because it was more of a demand. Her hand shot out, and Levi buckled and snapped a lid over the cup before handing it to her, his hand stopping right before the sides of the togo cup were in her grasp.

“You have to explain at some point.”

That was also a demand, but the look of seriousness on his face was different now. It had melted a bit to show a bit more understanding and concern.

“Right.” she agreed softly. “I have to get back to my lab. My students are waiting on me.”

Levi nodded and finally released his grasp on her beverage. Hange was free to exit the shop, but the cloud was still hanging over her like a dark force.

Mental health was a touchy subject with her, frankly because her mental health was complete and total shit. Erwin knew this, and so did Mike and Nanaba to a degree. But, it was getting worse. Limited sleep was turning into no sleep, she had no time to see a psychiatrist or a therapist. Her students depended on her, people around the world were depending on the success of her work. She didn’t exactly have the luxury of simply breaking down and feeling bad for herself,

She didn't have time to be selfish.

The cup raised to her lips and the burning liquid scorched her tongue, but the brunette didn’t flinch as she continued to walk back towards campus. In fact, it felt nice. It regrounded her and brought her mind back to the priorities ahead of her.

“Right.” She whispered to herself.

Levi just said she needed to explain, but he didn’t say when.

“I’ve got some time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mmm Pieck. Annie, Reiner, and Bert are the same age as Pieck (17/18) but they're seniors rather than early high school graduates. Porco is only a year older than them, and Zeke is that college dad everyone kinda has that looks out for them and gives advice. 
> 
> As for Hange, she has a complicated relationship with her own mind. I'll be expanding on this in the next chapter. It'll be centered around her routine and her thoughts throughout a typical day. 
> 
> As always, if you have recommendations/ requests please comment! Love you all!

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter one done, Chapter two coming soon. Let me know what you guys want added.


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